Just right after the damaging typhoon Milenyo, Cathy, Marby and I were scheduled to take a three-day break in Davao City. Six months in waiting - with every inch of excitement withheld - all just to take advantage of Cebu Pacific's 10-peso fare promo!

Fearing that our Friday night flight to Mindanao will be cancelled due to power outages, uprooted trees and fallen billboards, it was still God's grace that the weather calmed down. Although the flight was delayed for almost a couple of hours, we finally landed at our destination at around 10pm. It’s my very first time to reach Mindanao and travel independently. Marby picked us up at the airport, and we hired a taxi going to Sychar Garden Hotel. With our growling stomachs, Cathy and I took our late dinner at McDonald's Bajada - only about ten steps away from the hotel where we checked in.

The Issues

Sa totoo lang, wala naman talagang trip to Davao if it wasn't for Marby. Many thanks to her for lining up at the Cebu Pacific's office to get our tickets...< Applause, Applause! >.

Maybe because of much excitement, she opted to invite her other friends. Nothing seemed wrong at first, until we started planning our itinerary. It was only less than a month when we started preparing for the hotel accommodations, including the list of places to visit plus the incurring expenses. We had our meetings to finalize everything, but every time the week is over, a new idea comes out again, thus, requiring the whole itinerary to be reset. We had conflicts over the activities to be done in Davao, they wanted to go white water rafting while Cathy and I wanted to have a quiet and relaxing time at the beach. From the very start we already had our differences. Much to my dismay, I realized that all our plans were strongly affected by one of Marby's friend's decision. A pasaway in other words. It left Cathy and me to give way to what they wanted to do.

From the original plan, we were scheduled to take an island-hopping package from Travel Advantage Davao – a travel agency referred by one of my sister’s Davao-based officemate. But they insisted to get a lower package rate with Wind and Wave Davao. Our plan B was supposed to be a Saturday beach fun day in Pearl Farm. A cost of Php1,500 includes a buffet lunch and land transfers from the Waterfront. I was picturing myself sipping a Watermelon shake while lounging at the sands of Pearl Farm, with the best view at the beach. Wow, as in pure relaxation... One thing I didn’t like about what happened is that Marby had to cancel a day before the flight with the travel agency that I already talked to and when we got there in Davao, she suddenly lays out their plan to have white water rafting on the second day. Tapos, the reason why she had to cancel the other package tour is that we are considering the ‘budget’ daw, when for all we knew kaya pala nya gustong i-scrimp yun is that they already booked themselves to the rafting. Hay! Although I admit the snorkeling package from Wind and Wave Davao is reasonable naman, I still didn't like the company of Marby's other friend. Pa-sosyal kasi, di naman bagay! <Hahaha!>

A Saturday Snorkeling Adventure

From Sychar Hotel, we rode a public transport going to the port bound to Samal Island. It was almost 9:00 am when we reached Paradise Island Resort. They arranged an island-hopping tour with Wind and Wave Davao, with Glenn as our tour guide. We rode a speedboat going to the Coral Garden to spend a three-hour island hopping. It’s another first time for me to ride a speedboat!

The day was perfect for snorkeling. I have tried snorkeling in Puerto Galera and Boracay, but nothing compares to my snorkeling experience in Davao. It was my first time to use fins! The water was calm and clearer, plus it was an astounding sight to see big colorful corals and schools of fishes. Our tour guide took a pink starfish and let us touched it – its texture was a little soft underneath, with a slimy substance coming out of its small opening at the its tip. We went further to different snorkeling sites where we found abundance of clown fish and other familiar characters in the animation, “Finding Nemo”. A closer look at the “drop off” makes a scary feeling of not knowing what’s beyond the blurry scene. The water becomes cooler as we get closer to the island.

After the long and tiring water activity, we went back to Paradise Island to take our lunch. We had pork sinigang, seafood salad and veggies with oyster sauce. The exciting part of this gastronomical adventure is the yummy strawberry fruit shake, which is truly refreshing and satisfying. After lunch, we explored the Bird Paradise, an aviary located inside the premises of the resort, showcasing different birds like the Philippine eagle, parrots, cockatoos and ostrich.

Dinner at Jack’s Ridge

After a short break at the hotel, the group decided to go to SM Davao and then have dinner at Jack’s Ridge. Going to SM Davao by public transport took several minutes from our hotel. The night scene in Davao is fairly much the same in Metro Manila. Some of the busy streets that we passed by make you feel you’re in Divisoria, the only difference is the smell of durian all around town.

Going to Jack’s Ridge is similar to Antipolo, with the entire ambience, the overlooking scene and the restos. We had fish fillet in sweet and sour sauce, nilagang baka and grilled pork ribs. There was also a part in this place that looked like their version of Camp John Hay in Baguio - the Amphitheater, which plays venue to different events like weddings. We didn’t have much time to go around the place because we had to go back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow morning’s activities.

A Nature Tripping Sunday

Cathy and I decided to attend the early morning mass at 6:30am. But by the time we got to the Redemptorist Church, the mass was almost done, and it was in the Chabacano dialect, so it was really impossible for us to understand the mass. So, we waited until 7:30 am for the English mass. We were seated on the first row, and it was a very solemn experience to hear mass first thing in the morning. We were surprised to see the church already full at an early hour, we wondered, “Nasa Mindanao tayo... most of the people here are Muslims, diba?” We just assumed it to be so, but I guess there’s still a number of Catholics living in Davao City.

After the mass, we arranged a cab going to Eden Nature Park. It took us an hour to reach our destination. We paid the entrance fee with buffet lunch of Php380, plus additional 30 pesos for a 45-minute tour around the park.

The tour started in a few minutes. Cathy and I were simply amazed at the beautiful landscapes and gardens inside the Eden Park (Trivia: the Ayalas owns this place pala!) The name Eden was taken from a native girl of Davao, so it’s pronounced as Eh-den not E-den like the Garden of Eden. Although the tour lasted only for less than an hour, it never stopped us to do our favorite activity to take pictures!

Lunch was already served at 11:30am, so we headed to the buffet table for a sumptuous meal. We had fresh salad greens in Thousand Island dressing, spaghetti topped with Parmesan cheese and a lot more. After two hours of our “Bondat sa Gubat” feast, we decided to go around and try the Indiana Jones Ride for ourselves, which is another interesting attraction of Eden park. It’s a rope attached to a pulley that slides sideways. It was scary at first, but when you get the hang of it, it’s really fun. It makes you feel young again. The funniest part of Cathy’s ride was when I had to push her back the platform where she left off. She can’t climb down the rope because she can’t reach the ground. <Haha>

At around 2:00pm, we were ready to take off to our next destination, the Malagos Garden. But since we no longer arranged a cab going back to town, we had to ride another type of vehicle, which the local folks call the “habal-habal” – a motorcycle where the passengers are just seated behind the rider. In Tagalog, we call it “angkas”. Nakakatakot din pala yun, as compared to when you’re riding at the back of a tricycle which is more stable, sa habal-habal, mas mahirap magbalanse ng weight ng two people, tapos tatlo pa kami, diba? It was a very thrilling experience. Little drops of rain were starting to pour in as we rode down the slopes of Mt. Apo. The wind starts rushing in our faces, holding tightly to the Manong driver’s shoulders and hoping that my hat and bag won’t fall off. It was our lucky day that it didn’t rain hard, ambon lang.

When we reached Toril intersection, we hired another cab that charged us about P200 going to Malagos Garden. It took us almost an hour to reach Malagos. Cathy and I were a little bit disappointed when we toured around the garden. For the P100 entrance fee, there were no added attractions to the tour; we had to tour around by ourselves. The place looked like the Parks and Wildlife in Quezon City, so you can guess it’s like a public park with less maintenance on the facilities. However, we still managed to take some pictures around the park and we tried riding the seesaw and the swing in the playground. The receptionist explained to us that most of the park’s activities like the Butterfly Show are held in the morning. We were there at around 4:00pm, so I guess that explains why there were less people in the park.

Just across the street we decided to take a peek inside the Puentespina Orchids. My Mamè loves orchids, and I was planning to bring home a Waling-waling for her, but there were still in their early stage so I decided not to buy one. Besides, it’s a little bit bulky to carry along, so I just took pictures of them.

It was almost 5:00pm and it was getting dark, so we decided not to go to the Philippine Eagle anymore. Again, there was no other available public transport going back to the town proper other than the habal-habal. So, it was take two of our thrilling experience. Since Marby took white water rafting, Cathy and I called this experience as “land rafting”.

Somewhere in Calinan, we took an air conditioned L300 van going to the city proper. We were supposed to meet Marby at Aldevinco’s to do our partial shopping but then we learned that the shopping center is closed on Sundays. Since it was still early to go back to the hotel, Cathy suggested to walk around the vicinity to check on tomorrow’s shopping itinerary. Our ever-reliable city map led us to discover the Post Office, which is just a block away from Aldevinco Shopping Center and the Marco Polo Hotel. It was easy for us to familiarize the streets and the public transport, all with the help of the guide map, and syempre, buti na lang malakas rin loob ni Cathy.

Continuation to Part II